CHAPEL HILL, N.C., July 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Bringing new employees up to speed quickly and effectively is essential for all organizations, regardless of industry. Effective sales leadership groups use onboarding programs to smoothly transform new hires into productive employees. Leaders also use this time to encourage employee engagement and retention, although these elements are often under-emphasized.

The report identifies key strategies used by training and development leaders to provide new hires with the tools they need to succeed. The study presents a comprehensive picture of how world-class companies optimize their commercial onboarding training and development in a way that is cost-conscious but can support the aggressive goals of the organization.

Some important facets of onboarding programs that are explored in this study include:

Onboarding program elements and venues that reflect an effective approach to training new employees.

How organizations measure the performance of their onboarding programs and how companies can influence retention through their onboarding programs.

Insights into the technology platforms leading companies use in their onboarding programs as well as benchmarks around the duration and types of technology training provided during onboarding programs.

Effective ways to introduce corporate culture to employees during onboarding and pitfalls and best practices of onboarding programs.

The 87-page study includes insights from training and development from 33 national and global organizations. The data has been segmented to show the perspective of BioPharma/Device Companies compared with all participants.

For more information on this study or other recent primary research studies, contact us at 919.403.0251 or visit our website at http://www.best-in-class.com.

ABOUT BEST PRACTICES, LLC

Best Practices, LLC is a leading benchmarking, consulting and advisory services firm serving biopharmaceutical and medical device companies worldwide. Best Practices, LLC's clients include all the top 10 and 48 of the top 50 global healthcare companies. The firm conducts primary research and consulting using its comprehensive proprietary benchmarking tools and analysis. The operational insights, findings and analysis form the basis for our Benchmarking Reports, databases and advisory services to support executives in commercial and R&D operations. Best Practices, LLC believes in the profound principle that organizations can chart a course to superior economic performance by studying the best business practices, operating tactics and winning strategies of world-class companies.